Asked specifically about his back ailments, Jackson said, “I got bone spurs in my back. My bottom disc is completely gone. It’s normal, tough. It’s not abnormal. It’s normal wear and tear from playing so long. So, it ain’t that serious. I can still play for the next five years. See, I said five years. That’s all I got. I’ll be 38.”

It was serious enough he got an epidural.

See that last little line in his quote, he wants that extension. But he is putting the issue on hold… he says not due to the back issues, rather as not to be a distraction to the team. Decide for yourself any correlation. The Bucks are looking to get back into the playoffs this year, but they are going to have to beat out good teams like Philadelphia to make that happen so the team is focused.

“I’m going to go ahead and let it die down,” Jackson said. “Right now, I know it’s not the time to talk about contracts or anything like that. It’s about focusing on getting to the playoffs….

“I don’t want it to be a distraction to the team,” Jackson said, referring to an extension. “We have a great team. We have a chance to do something great.”

Jackson will be at the heart of that — he is going to have to create a lot of offense on the perimeter. If he, Brandon Jennings and Andrew Bogut can put up some points, the Bucks become a pretty good team. Like they looked like they would be prior to Bogut’s gruesome elbow injury.

And if Jackson can do that on the court, the man will get paid. It’s that simple.